Safety-belt

ABSTRACT

A safety belt which comprises at least one hollow body, at least one member containing expandable gas for blowing up the hollow body and including closure means, A device for releasing the blow-up in case of an accident. The hollow body has a plurality of exhaust openings for emergence from the hollow body within a shortest time period under the effect of the pressure exerted by the body of the belt user.

I Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,801,156

Granig Apr. 2, 1974 SAFETY-BELT 3,430,979 3/1969 Terry et al. 280/1503,298,142 1/1967 Isaac 297/388 [76] Inventor Huber Gram? 3,391,961 71968 Gardner et a1 297 388 ThOmaS-SIhmId-QaSSe 9020 3,623,768 11 1971Capener 28/150 Klagenfurt, Austri 3,314,719 4/1967 Johnson 297/385 FiledNov 15 1971 3,190,694 6/1965 Isaac 297/388 [21] Appl. No.: 198,668Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam 52 US. Cl 297/386, 280/150 AB [57]ABSTRACT 51 Int. Cl A47C 1/10, B60r 21/10 A Safety belt which comprisesat least one hollow 58 Field 61 Search 297/385, 386, 387, 388, body, atleast one member containing expandable 8 297 339 390; 2 0 0; 2 2 forblowing up the hollow body and including closure means, A device forreleasing the blow-up in case of 56 References Cited an accident. Thehollow body has a plurality of ex- UNITED STATES PATENTS haust openingsfor emergence from the hollow body within a shortest time period underthe effect of the pressure exerted by the body of the belt user.3,690I695 9/1972 Jones 280/150 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SAFETY-BELTThe present invention relates to a safety belt with one or a pluralityof hollow bodies which are capable of being blown up by means of one ora plurality of pressurized air containers or ignitible cartridges,whereby the blowing up of each hollow body in case of an accident isreleased selectively, automatically or manually by bursting open ofclosures of the pressurized air container or by ignition of thecartridges, respectively.

Different embodiments of such belts are known which make possible incase of an accident a longer retarding path for the decelerating body.Such belts prevent also an impact of the vehicle occupants on thearmature board or on the side walls and the roof of the automotivevehicle. General heavily weighing drawbacks are inherent, however, inthe previously known safety belts. It is, due to the annoyance andmovement prevention of the vehicle occupants connected therewith, notpossible to make the belt selectively wide, in order to support a largerpart of the body and to reduce the specific loads of the bodyandbelt-face.

Another heavily weighing drawback resides in known belts in the fact,that they must engage as much as possible close to the body, in order tobe effective in case of a serious occasion. Also from this arrangementresults a hindrance and annoyance of the vehicle riders, and this leadsto the point, that belts which are provided in the vehicle, are notused.

Also safety belts, capable of being blown up, have been proposed. ThusUS. Pat. No. 3,146,460 discloses a safety belt consisting of a pluralityof hollow bodies, which are capable of being blown up at the moment ofan accident. The drawback of this safety belt resides, however, in thefact, that it is resilient in the blown up state and thus the personfalling into the belt is thrown back.

It is one object of the present invention, to provide a safety belt,which avoids the above stated drawbacks of the known structures, andwhich in particular prevents the resiliency in backward direction.

It is another object of the present invention, to provide a safety belt,wherein each of the hollow bodies has discharge openings, by example,perforations, through which the gas can be pressed out from the innerspace of the hollow bodies, after being blown up under the effect of thepressure exerted by the body of the user of the belt within the shortestpossible time, preferably within seconds or parts of seconds. By theenergy consuming pressing out of gas from the belt, a slight catching ofthe body of the belt user is assured and any resiliency in backwarddirection is effectively prevented.

The hollow bodies of the safety belt, in accordance with the presentinvention, are made preferably of fab- In accordance with a furtherdevelopment of the concept of the present invention, it can also beprovided, that the belt can be rolled together or is foldable in itsempty state about its longitudinal axis and that for the securing of thebelt in the rolled up or folded position closing devices in particularsnap fasteners can be provided. By this arrangement the safety belt hasin its non-blown up state, a width comparable with conventional beltsand hardly hinders the person using the belt.

For an improved adjustment to the body contours, and for the protectionof particularly endangered body parts of the person using the belt, thelatter has within the scope of the present invention in its blown upstate different cross sections along its longitudinal extension aswidenings, bulges or narrow portions.

It can be provided within the scope of the present invention, that forthe adjustment of the filling pressure of the belt to the vehicle speed,the number of the pressurized air containers to be released or thecartridges to be ignited is increased with rising vehicle speed.

Finally, in accordance with the present invention, for the prevention orreducing of secondary accident consequences, it is provided, that forthe filling of the belt an expandable gas having medicinal or firefighting characteristics is used or a medium capable of expsnsion withmedicinal or fire fighting characteristics is added to the expandinggas.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention, which is shown byexample only, will be clearly understood in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-point safety belt in itsnon-blown-up state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blown up safety belt;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the hollow body of the belt;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views of the buckling point ofthe safety belt; and

FIG. 6 is a section of a three-point safety belt indicating anotherembodiment thereof.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIG. 1, the showntherein has two hollow bodies and is connected to a cartridge or apressurized air container 1, the filling of which as a gas can expandinto the hollow body. Also pressurized air or pressurized gas fillingsor ignitible powder or gas cartridges, and the like, respectively, canbe used.

The safety belt has in view of its fabric characteristics and in view ofthe apertures or perforations 5, respectively, a predetermined capacityof passing through whereby the gas can be pressed out from the innerspace of the hollow bodies by the body falling into it. The gas flowsagainst the passage resistance of the openings or apertures of thehollow body, whereby labor is performed and moving energy is fed off tostop the body falling into it. These apertures are predetermined insize, number and/or arrangement to produce this effect.

The large hollow bodies of the blown up safety belts provide for thebody to be retarded on a wide yielding engaging face of the belt, whichsupports itself mainly on the part of the belt opposite contiguous tothe body, which belt transmits this force in turn to a belt anchoring(the latter known per se and not a part of the present invention).

The safety belt is blown up only at the moment of the accident. Therelease takes place either automatically by a known retarding indicatoror a shock indicator on the inertia base or another device,respectively, as for instance a bow on the impact side of the vehicle ormanually by an electrical switch. The release causes mechanically orelectrically the opening of closures of the pressurized air container orignition of the cartridge. The above-mentioned means are known per seand do not constitute a part of the present invention.

The ignition or opening device comprises an ignition capsule 4 (FIG. 6),which opens or rips open, respectively, the closure of the container byits own pressure or causes the same effect by the additionally createdpressure, by example in pressurized gas containers, or by ignition ofburnable parts of the container content.

As much as the closure of the safety belt as shown in FIG. 1 is notprovided at the end of the belt over which the latter is blown up,conventional closure types can be used without changes, since the beltin its folded state has approximately the same measurements, as thealready known belts. In FIG. 3 it is shown, how the folded state of thebelt is maintained by snap fasteners 6.

A closure at the end of the belt, over which the latter is blown up,must be equipped for the purpose of filling with a circular, oval orrounded rectangular passage cross section. As shown in FIG. 6, twotongue closures or an immovable hook device combined with a tongueclosure 3 are provided.

It is also possible to connect the flllihg container directly with thebelt, whereby as a closure, any of the known constructions can be used.There must be merely considered the contacts for further feeding of therelease impulse to the container. The abovementioned means are known perse and do not constitute a part of the present invention.

In order to adjust the efficiency of the safety belt to the speed at thetime of the accident, it is possible to raise the filling pressure incase of higher speeds, by providing with increasing speeds a pluralityof pressurized air containers or cartridges, respectively, for release.The control of the number can take place by means of the tachometer, byfeeding the impulse emerging from the retardation indicator by means ofa pointer on the tachometer, which feeds the impulse depending upon thespeed of the vehicle, one or a plurality of contact devices for therelease. The abovementioned means are known per se and do not constitutea part of the present invention.

By this variable feeding pressure and the resistance of the beltresulting therefrom, always the optimum retarding path for the body,which can be offered by the belt, is exploited. Of course, the sameeffect can also take place by one or a plurality of valves to be openedmechanically, whereby the control takes place in an analogous manner andway.

The essential advantages of the present safety belt are in their wideyielding engaging face for the body, furthermore the possibility of thevehicle riders to carry it loosely and still in case of emergency tohave available by the blown up belt a comparatively tight fitting safetybelt with a long retarding path.

Although not constituting part of the present invention, the gas usedfor the safety belt has preferably medicinal, and for fire fightingcharacteristics. It is, however, also possible to add to the gas meansor ingridients having medicinal and/or fire fighting characteristics.

Such gases having fire fighting characteristics include preferably meanswhich thin down the air and thereby prevent the spreading of a tire.Such means are particularly carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium. Yet,also easily vaporizing, low halide-hydrocarbons (halones)- can be usedfor this purpose. The three first mentioned gases can be appliedsimultaneously also for blowing up the safety belt, while halone must beadded to a driving gas.

Concerning means having medicinal effects; it is provided to add suchmeans in form of aerosol.

The following means having medicinal effects can be provided:

Ephedrine l phenyl 2-methyl-aniinol-propanol; against shock, increasingthe circulation.

Nissan-cb'rtisaile scaae 1 7-hyar6xy 1 1 dehydr0corticoster-one-acetate;against shock, creasing the circulation.

Desoxy-adrenaline; against shock, increasing the circulation.

Noradrenaline; against shock, increasing the circulation.

N-ethyl-noradrenaline; against shock, increasing the circulation. 0 m

Prednisolone-1,4-pregnadiene-l l(fi), l7(a); 2 l-triol- 3,20-dione;against shock, increasing the circulation.

Largactil-N-(B-dimethylamino)-propyl-3-chlorophenothiazine; sedative.

Pentamethylentetrazol Cardiazol) pentamethylene tetrazol; coagulant.

Adrenochrome; coagulant.

Manama. ethyl i -methyl-4-phenyl 4-piperidine carboxylate hydrochloride;pain killing.

1-methanol-methyl-propyl-phenyl hexahydride; revival fromunconsciousness.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is tobe understood that this embodient is given by example only and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. A safety belt for an occupant of a vehicle, comprisa vehicle safetybelt formed at least of one hollow body and adaptto be secured about thebody of said occupant, means operatively connected to said hollow bodywhereby said hollow body is inflated substantially upon impact of saidvehicle, and said hollow body having a plurality of exhaust apertures ofpredetermined size, number and arrangement for emergence from saidhollow body of inflatable medium under the effect of the pressureexerted by the body of the occupant thereagainst. 2. The safety belt, asset forth in claim 1, wherein said hollow body is capable of beingfolded together about its longitudinal axis in its uninflated state,

releasable closing means are provided in said hollow body for releasablysecuring said hollow body in said folded together state.

3. The safety belt, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hollow bodyhas in its inflated state different cross-sections along the length ofsaid belt.

4. The safety belt, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inflatablemedium has fire fighting characteristics.

1. A safety belt for an occupant of a vehicle, comprising a vehiclesafety belt formed at least of one hollow body and adapt-to be securedabout the body of said occupant, means operatively connected to saidhollow body whereby said hollow body is inflated substantially uponimpact of said vehicle, and said hollow body having a plurality ofexhaust apertures of predetermined size, number and arrangement foremergence from said hollow body of inflatable medium under the effect ofthe pressure exerted by the body of the occupant thereagainst.
 2. Thesafety belt, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hollow body iscapable of being folded together about its longitudinal axis in itsuninflated state, releasable closing means are provided in said hollowbody for releasably securing said hollow body in said folded togetherstate.
 3. The safety belt, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hollowbody has in its inflated state different cross-sections along the lengthof said belt.
 4. The safety belt, as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidinflatable medium has fire fighting characteristics.